WHO can keep track of all these cups of Coffey?
Just look at the past two weeks.
It started with jockey Harry Coffey’s Caulfield Cup.
On Saturday, it was trainer dad Austy’s Wycheproof Cup.
And Sunday, Harry was back in the saddle, taking out the $100,000 Sportsbet Peninsula Cup at Mornington on the locally trained Chartres.
The six-year-old Toronado gelding was coming out of barrier one and Coffey launched into the jump on all six cylinders, giving himself plenty of choice to find some cover behind the frontrunner as the field sorted itself out for the 1600m run.
As they came around the last bend he started moving forward and then in a case of déjà vu, Coffey replicated his Caulfield win on Duke De Sessa and pinched the lead as they turned for home and bolted clear at the top of the straight.
After which it was just like Caulfield – catch me if you can.
And they couldn’t.
Our Couver gave it a go but fell half a length short and Coffey had another cup for the pool room.
“It’s fortunate I was able to manoeuvre my way off the rail, and when I got out it was all over from there,” Coffey said post-race.
“Our fella quickened up really well, and put the race to bed, albeit he was probably out late.
“But I thought probably on his home track, with no weight on him, if I could get a little bit of a break on them it might be the difference and Jerome’s (Our Couver trainer Jerome Hunter) horse was coming hard late but the job was done.”
The win was a third Peninsula Cup for Chartres trainer Matt Laurie, which Coffey agreed was an achievement for any trainer.
He said these races always mean a lot to locals and “it’s awesome I can be a part of it even though I live five hours away,” he laughed.
The latest round of hot Coffeys started Friday night at Moonee Valley in classic Harry style – last race of the day.
And there was no mistaking that cheeky grin Coffey was wearing when he hopped off his 16/1 shot Mere Morsel to the delight of its trainer and owners.
But the biggest laugh might have been coming from as far afield as Hong Kong – the six-year-old gelding is owned by Price Bloodstock Management Ltd which is based there.
And its principal David Price had been on the phone pre-race with some very specific instructions about how he saw things panning out at the Valley.
In the $60,000 Bottle Stop Handicap over 1200m as they hit the bend to head for home it was a legion of longshots making all the running.
Coffey on Mere Morsel was out after the 30/1 bolter Superset, with a wall of the unfancied right behind him – and the favourite Roadcone running into roadblocks back in the pack.
Determined to stay close to the running rail, Coffey grabbed the lead on the tight Valley turn, into the very short Valley straight, but still looked as though he had gone a fraction early.
Zombie Missile went with him, and kept coming, and to the naked eye hit the front with metres to go before Coffey pushed his ride for one last lunge.
And it paid off.
A lip is all you need to collect the money and that’s about all there was in it.
“We had some instructions from David himself, he wanted us to ride the horse in a positive manner,” Coffey revealed post-race.
“We would have preferred to be outside the lead but it’s just the way the race shaped and was sort of unfolding, and I had to kick through and take control,” he explained.
“When I had Stackie (Zombie Missile rider Daniel Stackhouse) outside me, really pouring on the pressure and not being able to come back a half-length, I was a little bit concerned.
“But I was still able to get my horse in a nice rhythm and I felt like I was controlling it and I kept just enough up my sleeve to fight off anything that came.
“Although to be fair, I thought I had still got nailed on the line, but my horse showed good audacity and got the job done.”
Talking about his hectic travel schedule and riding commitments for the weekend, Coffey happily brushed it off.
“It’s the time of the year we all love to be involved in, and while it can be a bit hard on the body physically and mentally, when there’s so much on offer you have got to do it,” he said.
“And when you get to ride in big races and be part of big occasions, and ride nice horses, you’ve got to grab it while you can.”
Coffey flew out the next morning to ride in the $10 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill Gardens and gave the Tony McEvoy trained Veight every opportunity to perform – but it didn’t.
Coming from barrier 18 in a 20-horse field, Coffey got out of the machine like a bullet and quickly had himself placed on speed and safe from any congestion as the field turned for home.
But when the gap opened, his horse had nothing in the tank despite his rider’s best efforts.
McEvoy said the four-year-old stallion – which already has more than $2 million in the bank – had been subpar in recent races so they were going to restart his program.
Then Coffey got back on the plane and got back to Melbourne Saturday night in time to head for Mornington and another book of rides ahead of this week’s racing pressure cooker at Flemington.
